I Think I Love Him.

Chapter One

A new beginning.

Chapter 1:

"Mom! Hurry up, I have to be there to check in by 12! We have to get on the road soon!" I said, frantically scanning my room to see that all my belongings for the last 17 years have been packed away for the first time ever, waiting for their arrival at their new home: university. I'm scared, but excited, and can't wait to see what the future holds for me.

"Got everything?" I turn around to see dad, sporting a hat and matching t-shirt with the logo of my school on them. For the first time in what seems like forever, I have a sinking feeling in my stomach, thinking about how my dad isn't going to be there to crack dumb jokes or share music with when he gets home from work. Because when he gets home from work, it'll be two hours away from me, alone in my dorm. I push that feeling down for the moment and give him a big smile.

"Got everything. Now I just have to do one more thing...say bye to my babies!"

My dogs are my everything. I call them my babies and a lot of people get really confused or weirded out when I say that and then I have to explain to them that they're my fur babies, not real babies. It breaks my heart to have to say goodbye to them, but everything will be fine. I'll visit on weekends often and on holiday breaks! It'll be fine. I'm not abandoning them. I'm NOT. After I say goodbye to my babies, we (me, mom, dad, my brother Stephen) hop into my dad's truck, full of belongings from the last 17 years, leaving behind my childhood home, and start the drive towards my new home. My future. My grandparents are in tow.

The drive seems so much shorter than it did the last time mom and I drove up to check out the campus. My palms are sweaty. I'm getting more and more anxious as the minutes tick by and the distance closes between us and my school. I want to tell dad to turn the car around and maybe I can try this whole thing again next year, but I know I have to do this. It's a gut feeling. Like it's the only thing I should be doing at this point in time. Besides, I've lived in such a small town my entire life that it'll be nice to live closer to a big city for a change.

The entrance to the school pops up, and I take in a big breath of air. You can do this. I get my key and my RA gives me a tour of the bathroom and shows me to my room. At least if I have to share a bathroom with 40 other girls my room is the one directly across from it. I unlock the door to my room and it's tiny, but cozy in a way. There's a big tree right outside my second-story window, and I can hear birds chirping.

"How cute! You know I didn't go to college so this is so great to me! I'm so, so proud of you! Now let's start unpacking." Mom is so enthusiastic about everything I kinda let her take the lead. It takes all day to unpack everything and start to decorate my room. It's beginning to feel more homey by the minute. The only drawback is that besides me, there's only two other residents in the building and three RA's because we got to move in early since we got hired as staff for housing. We'll be working the front desk of the building. I'm really excited about it. My first job. I haven't met anyone yet, but the girl two doors down from me was moving in with her family too. I hope we can become friends. It'd be kinda cool to have a friend living so close.

We decide to take a break and check the building out a little and end up in the common area of the building, where there are some couches and a TV set up for residents to relax. We sit down and have some lunch and talk a little about if I'm nervous and how exciting it all is. I lie and say I'm not nervous at all, that I've been waiting for this day all summer. Actually, I was waiting all summer, until a few days ago when I started packing all my clothes and realized how real everything actually was. The last thing I need right now is to have my mom worrying about me more than she already is. 

I look down at my food while everyone else is talking and I see movement out of the corner of my eye. I look up and see a brown-haired boy with his mom. He must be my other coworker. I wonder what his name is.

By the time my room is all set up, it's time for my parents to go home. The goodbye is a bit harder than I would've expected, but I didn't cry. Mom almost did. After they leave, I watch a bit of Netflix and then go to bed. I've got a big day tomorrow of talking to complete strangers and acting like meeting them is the greatest thing in the entire world. 

I'm exhausted already.